


'Q' and 'A', The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-03
Updated: 2006-12-03
Packaged: 2019-05-30 20:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: Follow-up to "Once In Silence" Once they finally reach their destination, Leo makes time for he and Annabeth to discuss a change in his "itinerary".





	'Q' and 'A', The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

She slipped through the large hotel suite used as the command center in Boston, trying to be invisible as she collected the night sheets and briefings she needed. She almost succeeded in leaving without being noticed when Josh's loud whistle made her turn around. He stood with his hand cupped over the phone and gestured for her to come over.

"He did good this morning." He said with a grin.

"He did *well*, Josh-and in case you haven't noticed, he always does well."

"Yeah, but...especially well this morning."

"I'll tell him you approve.” she said as she turned to go.

"He's got his phone shut off-have him call me about Haverell."

"He'll tell you that Haverell's not worth the trouble, Josh. Let it go."

"Have him call me!" She waved in reply as she left the room. 

She was glad to be loaded down with folders and reports because she felt a little shaky. Predictably, their flight had gotten in late and they didn't get to the hotel until 2am. She had wagged her finger at Leo at his hotel room door, telling him to sleep at least for a few hours before they had to get up and go to the television studio. She herself could not sleep-she tossed and turned as she went over the conversations they had-or tried to have in the last 8 hours. 

Finally, she gave up and took a long hot shower-followed by a bracing 2 minutes under cold water to bring herself awake. She did her hair and makeup, dressed and was knocking on his door at 4:30am to find him also dressed and ready to go-and completely businesslike as usual. They went over talking points in the limo and while he sat in the make-up chair-squirming as usual. Just before he walked out onto the set, she touched his sleeve and made him turn around so she could give him the once over. "Devastating, McGarry." she had whispered as usual. This time though, instead of the pained expression she was used to, he looked at her frankly-and her knees got weak.

He had done well-and she took pride in knowing she had been a help to him along the way.  
After it was over, he returned calls on the way back to the hotel. He had invited her to have breakfast with him so they could talk, but she declined, suggesting instead that he catch up on his sleep. He switched his offer to lunch-and she had nodded, not trusting her voice. The time was set for 12:30pm, and she was on her way to his suite-no knowing what to expect.

She smiled at Eddie, the head Agent on Leo’s detail who stood outside the door. Trying to mask her nervousness, she knocked on the door of the suite.  
“Come in.” Leo called from inside.

He walked out of the bathroom as she entered, a towel draped around his shoulders. “Josh wants you to call him.” She said, dropping the files on the table.

“That will be about Haverell’s press release.”, he said. “And good afternoon to you as well.” He picked up the top file and glanced at it. “I ordered for you-I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, that’s fine.”, she said looking at his face. “You missed a spot.”

“Where?”

Instead of telling him, she moved closer and wiped the shaving cream off his cheek with her finger and then wiped her finger on the towel. Suddenly, the gesture seemed so intimate to her-and to him as well. “Thank you.”, he said quietly. They stood together frozen in time, each waiting for the other to make the next move. Finally, Leo reached up and touched her cheek. Leaning down, his lips brushed hers gently, and she responded.

A first kiss is a journey taken in tandem-with an unknown destination. At first, Leo led Annabeth-deepening the kiss-slipping his hand around to the back of her neck to hold her there. She drew closer willingly, slipping her arms up over his shoulders to caress his back. All pretenses gone, Leo followed suit, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. They stood there suspended in that moment with no thought for the world outside, lost on their journey.

A sudden rap on the door brought them out of their reverie, and they broke apart. Annabeth felt a blush come to her cheeks. Leo stood there a moment, and pulled the towel off his neck. “That’s probably lunch.”, he said as he walked to the door. Sure enough, when he opened the door, a bellhop stood there with the serving cart. She walked into the bathroom to check her makeup-thanking the god’s that she had opted for a light blush lip gloss-it wouldn’t do for the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate to be seen with bright red lipstick smeared all over his mug. When she came out, the bellhop had left, and Leo was setting the table for their lunch. Seeing her, he pulled out her chair, and she sat down. Picking up the cloth napkin, he snapped it  
open, laid it across her lap and sat down in the other chair.

“Well,” he said, snapping open his own napkin, “That’s one hurdle crossed.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning…we definitely seem to have the physical attraction thing down.”

“What a lovely way to put it.”, she said, picking up her fork.

“You don’t agree?”

“I agree with the statement. It’s the chosen rhetoric that have me wanting to throw a roll at your head.”

He reached out and took her hand. “It was a lovely kiss then. Is that better?”

“Much.” She picked at her Cobb salad, trying to think of how to proceed. “What’s the next hurdle?”, she said finally.

“Okay-well, hurdle was the wrong choice of word. We were going to spend some time together talking about us. Talking about what to do about us. I hadn’t expected to kiss you quite so soon.”

“No?”

“Well, I had my hopes that it would come about sometime in the course of the afternoon. But I’m perfectly happy that it preceded the conversation.”

“You…Leo, I don’t know whether to kiss you again or reach for a roll. Instead-I think I’m just going to let you have the field and proceed with what ever itinerary is rolling around in your head. Proceed.”

“Is it such a bad thing that I’ve thought this through before talking to you about it? That I have a plan to make it work? As I said before-this isn’t the optimal time to begin a courtship.”

“Courtship…what a lovely old…fashioned expression.”

“You were going to say ‘old’.”

“No I wasn’t. I do think it’s a lovely expression-I’ve never had a relationship the even remotely qualified as a courtship.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Believe it.”

Leo took another bite of his chicken and chewed it as he looked at her thoughtfully. “Tell me.” He said finally.

“What about?”

“You-your non-courtships. You must have had…relationships. Men in your life?”

“You want to vet me?” she said incredulously.

“You vetted me-back when we started the campaign. You know everything about me. Stands to reason I entitled to the ‘quid pro quo’.”

“Well, I doubt I know everything about you-most of it was in the public domain. The rest-I had to drag out of you.”

“I’m a man of mystery. And you’re changing the subject. Your relationships?”

She sighed and wiped her mouth carefully. “Two ‘live-in’s’, one with a proposal respectfully declined. Three ‘almosts’, and an endless stream of first dates.”

“Anything recent?”

“The last ‘almost’…very sweet, also very committed to his career. Unfortunately, the pressures of both our jobs…”

“I hear you.”

“Jordan Kendall?”

He looked at her and raised his eyebrows. “You know about her?”

“I read the Tattler, Leo.”

“That rag.”, he scoffed.

“You were a couple for how long?”

“About a year-and you just changed the subject.”

“Consider it ‘quid pro quo’. Was it serious?”

“Yes, after a fashion. Serious in that we were both, by nature, monogamous. She’s a very lovely lady. But ultimately…the pressures of both our jobs…”

“I hear you.” They went back to picking at their lunches, each lost in their thoughts. Each trying to think of what to say next.

“Leo,” Annabeth said finally, “We’re sitting here, having lunch, talking around a subject we’ve been talking around for the last twenty-four hours.”

“The tension.”

“Is that all it is?”, she asked, “Is it just…physical attraction for you?”

“No.”, he said, “If you know me at all, you should know that much.”

“Then what?” What is it that you’re feeling?”

Leo smiled at her and took a bite of his chicken salad. “You disconcert me.”, he said. “There is something about you that makes me…I don’t know, want to throw caution to the wind. But I can’t.”

“I know.”

“I am old fashioned. And I do want to ‘court’ you. To ‘woo’ you. So…I’ve been thinking about how to go about it in this goldfish bowl we’re living in.” He put down his fork and reach out to take her hand again. “You want to know what I’m feeling? I’m feeling enough to work out an itinerary so that we can spend time together-no campaign talk-just us.”

She smiled at him. “You do have it on disk, don’t you?”

He tapped his forehead. “I have it on my hard drive.”

Annabeth blushed and looked down at her plate. “You’re smirking.”, she said finally.

“You said under the right circumstances it could be devastatingly sexy. What-it’s not working?”

“Oh, it’s working. Continue.”

“Okay.” He sat back in his chair again. “The way I figure-you and I still have a job to do. That doesn’t change. What does change is that we set aside a part of each day that is just for us-not as candidate and aide, but as man and woman.”

“Where in your day is there time for that, Leo? Just about every hour is allotted to something. Where in your schedule do you see a place for us?”

He picked up the daily itinerary she had brought with her and dropped it in from of her. His index finger pointed to a line. “Right there.”, he said.

She glanced down at it, and read:

1:00PM-3:00PM: MR. McGARRY’S DOWNTIME

“Leo, you’re supposed to rest then.”

“I’m not an invalid, Annabeth. It’s not called “naptime”. It’s called ‘downtime’ for a reason. I rarely nap anyway. I read, I watch t.v., I catch up on personal stuff. Just lately I’ve spent my downtime thinking of you. If you are so inclined, we could spend that time together.”

“I join you here for ‘naptime’?”

“DOWN-time, Smarty-pants. And yes. You shut off your Blackberry and come knock on my door.”

“Tripping over the 5 Secret Service Agents guarding your door. Great way to keep this private, McGarry.”

“Excellent way to keep this private. The detail aren’t there to protect me from you-although there may come a time when I’ll come to regret it. They’re there to protect me in general-and they’re not inclined toward gossip. Eddie’s been the head of my detail since my days in the West Wing. We’ve got a code worked out.”

“A code?”

“Been in place for a long time. When I want to be left undisturbed, I text Eddie-and that’s all she wrote. Nobody gets through.”

Annabeth looked at the door, and then back at Leo. “You texted him when I got here, didn’t you?”

“No, I gave him the double secret code word after the room service guy left.”

“So…here we are.”

“Here we are.”

“So…what do we do during this ‘down-time’?”

“Get to know each other-see where this ‘tension’ leads us. Talk, maybe taking in a movie on pay-per-view. Or better yet…” He got up from his chair and found the remote. Turning on the t.v., he flipped through until he found the music channels and clicked on one. The sounds of Nat King Cole singing “Stardust” filled the room. He turned to him and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?” he asked.

Annabeth blushed, and her hand was trembling when she put it in his. She rose and he led her to the small open area behind the couch and took her into his arms. His cheek touched hers, and she closed her eyes. They moved to the music…

And now the purple dust of twilight time  
Steals across the meadows of my heart  
Now the little stars, the little stars pine  
Always reminding me that we're apart  
You wander down the lane and far away  
Leaving me a love that cannot die  
Love is now the stardust of yesterday  
The music of the years gone by. 

“I love this song.” Leo whispered in her ear.

“Mmmmmmmm…music from the 40’s is all so romantic.”

“I have a theory about that.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Do you want to hear it, or what?”

“Go ahead-tell me.”

“Well, back then…lovemaking was for the most part, taboo. Dancing was a way for couples to discover if they were sexually compatible.”

“That’s a lovely theory.”, she whispered. Leo pressed her hand against his chest, and she felt his heart beating against her palm. 

Sometimes I wonder why I spend  
The lonely nights  
Dreaming of a song  
That melody haunts my reverie   
And I am once again with you  
When our love was new  
And each kiss an inspiration  
Ah, but that was long ago  
Now my consolation  
Is in the stardust of a song   
Beside a garden wall  
Where stars are bright  
You are in my arms  
That nightingale tells its fairy tale  
of paradise where roses grew  
Though I dream in vain  
In my heart it will remain  
my stardust melody  
The memory of love's refrain. 

Annabeth rested her head against Leo’s shoulder. He responded by laying his cheek against her forehead.   
“The pressure of our jobs…”, Leo said finally. “I’ve been thinking about that to.”

“Have you?”

“The way I see it…if we win, and if you and I…pursue a personal relationship…you couldn’t continue on my staff-much as I’d like you to.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“But you have to know that you will get snapped up for some position with the new Administration-a high ranking position.”

“I’d like to believe so.”

“Believe it.”

“So what’s your point?”

“My point is, in that scenario, if and when we make it public that we are involved…the press may make some assumptions about how you got that job.”

“Let them. I won’t care.”

“I will.”

“Then I’ll bless you for it. But I’m got pretty thick skin, Leo. And I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We’ve just begun here and you’re already doing-what did you call it? ‘Opposition prep’?”

“Sorry. It’s just…”

“The way your mind works. Okay, what’s the other scenario? If we lose?”

“Well, that’s much easier. I’ll probably continue working with the DNC, lecture…you-you could probably write your own ticket-either with the DNC or in the private sector. Our relationship…wouldn’t come under the same kind of scrutiny.”

“Leo…”, she said, raising her head and looking at him, “I understand how your mind works. But right now…could you just concentrate on how your heart works?”

He looked at her, and his face changed. The look in his eyes made her tremble, and she put her head back on his shoulder. He tucked his cheek against her forehead again. So it began. Two people, lost in the music and in each other. They moved to the music, and the sterile environment of the hotel room was lost. They were transported to their own private world, at the beginning of their own private journey. 

Beside a garden wall  
Where stars are bright  
You are in my arms  
That nightingale tells its fairy tale  
of paradise where roses grew  
Though I dream in vain  
In my heart it will remain  
my stardust melody  
The memory of love's refrain.


End file.
